Current Challenges and Potential Solutions for Sept 2015

Lila is doing extremely well in her special needs pre-K class. Bill and I couldn’t be any prouder of her – it has truly been incredible to watch her adjust to her new schedule. We do have a couple of things we’re focusing on right now, and I’ve outlined them below:

Challenge #1:

The Routine

Lila is really starting to find her groove with her new special needs pre-K schedule. Last weekend on both Saturday and Sunday (despite the visual schedule), Lila became upset that the order of events wasn’t more like her weekdays. She saw her shoes and it was time to GO! When I tried to just drive her around the block it wasn’t good enough – she wanted to go somewhere. There appears to be just too much of a difference for her to adjust to at this point.

The Potential Solution:

In an attempt to make the weekends easier on her, Bill and I are implementing a new weekend schedule that will more closely mimic her weekday schedule.

Challenge #2:

Communication Frustration

Obviously…. she is a very smart Little Lady. She gets upset (and hurt) when she feels we can read her mind but that we just choose not to comply. Last weekend there was something in the kitchen she wanted me to do, and for the first time in a very long time I couldn’t figure out what it was. There were a lot of meltdowns.

The Potential Solution:

In an attempt to expand her options, and to try and give her more choices before she melts down, I made a bunch of new picture cards this week (16 or so I think). So that when she is upset, I can take her to the board and have her “use her words”. In addition to food and drink, I added a number of activities and toys for her to choose from.

Fingers crossed on both accounts – I will keep you updated on our progress!